Genre: Crime

‘On The Run’ is a superb effort from Biao and a welcome change of pace for an actor who is so often seen as just the “little brother” of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.

It’s a pleasure to see Jordan Chan given a lead role in a major production and his cowardly cook is a delightful antithesis to ‘Chicken’ from the series that made his name.

John Woo really surprised the audiences with this mixture of acrobatic gunplay action and comedy.

The master stroke is of course the incorporation of Yuen Woo Ping as fight choreographer and he serves up some of the best fisticuffs of recent years.

Lam has made better films but, along with Benny Chan, he is at the forefront of Hong Kong action in terms of delivering large scale spectacle.

While ‘Overheard’ was an excellent homage to the great American conspiracy films of the 70s, the in-name-only sequel is a more routine two hours with a far less incisive denouement.

Wordy, but with nothing to say, this is a verbose movie populated by monumentally dull characters and bland ‘twists’ that fail to hold the attention.

The third instalment in the ‘SPL’ franchise sees original director Wilson Yip return for another dark crime tale that doesn’t skimp on the nihilism or the hard edged fight action.

In Derek Yee though, the film has an impressive craftsmen who layers the tension until the film’s ultimately downbeat conclusion.

Despite its finale, ‘Police Story 2’ is worthy edition to any JC collection, and another example of how Hollywood action is made to look pathetic in comparison.

There is much to appreciate here, especially a plot with enough turns and twists to keep the viewer attentive and characters who go beyond their stereotypes as the villain’s motives unfold.

This is another great slice of entertainment JC style, and was one of his best performances before his physical shape noticeably began to deteriorate in the mid-90’s.